Only 1% pay Income Tax in J&K : IT Dept. to take strict action against defaulters

Last updated Jan 25, 2017

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The IT Dept. has noticed huge lacuna in the fraction of people liable to pay Income Tax and their actual collection. A local newspaper reports that less than 1% of population has been paying Income Tax to the department. Of around 13 Lakh PAN card holders, only 1 Lakh are paying income tax.

“There are thousands of people for whom it is mandatory to pay the income tax but these income tax defaulters are paying no heed despite directives from the department,” an official of Income Tax department said. He said that these defaulters have been hiding their income returns to evade from paying the income tax. Sources said the department also took note over not achieving their target for the past few years. They said that the J&K has the highest percentage of tax defaulters in the country who owe crores of tax altogether to the government while authorities have failed to take any measures in this regard.

“It has now been decided that all those people for whom it is mandatory to pay the income tax will now been included in the list of income taxpayers,” the official had said.

In other states, the names of defaulters are being published in newspapers so that these people would be compelled to pay the tax. It is also aimed so that the common man can come forward to help the department in knowing the whereabouts of these defaulters. The step is to enhance public awareness against these entities who are acting against law.

“We are also mulling to initiate similar steps in the state to achieve the target,” the official said.

It has been learnt that there are also hundreds of defaulters who have stopped filing the Income Tax returns and department has asked them to adhere the mandatory provisions of the Income Tax Act or will be taken action against them.